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At a press conference held yesterday in Rome, one day ahead of World Food Day, international peasants’ movement Via Campesina warned of the major risks that the wrong type of agricultural investment pose to land and water resources and, as a consequence, the livelihoods of small-scale farmers. According to Via Campesina, intelligent agricultural investment can […]

On Tuesday, the Ecumenical Advocacy Alliance (EAA), a broad international network of churches and Christian organisations, published a paper which calls for increased investment in sustainable agricultural practices in order to support small-scale farmers and protect the environment. The paper, entitled “Nourishing the World: Scaling up Agroecology” comprises numerous success stories which demonstrate how agroecological

According to a new UN report published today, almost 870 million people are chronically undernourished worldwide. This means that in the period 2010-2012 one in every eight was suffering from hunger. The majority of the hungry live in developing countries. “In today’s world of unprecedented technical and economic opportunities, we find it entirely unacceptable that

Development agency Oxfam International has urged the World Bank to stop investing in large-scale land acquisitions to prevent land grabbing in developing countries. According to a new Oxfam report published on Thursday, the area of land which has been sold off worldwide in the last decade is eight times the size of the United Kingdom.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) today announced an international initiative to enhance understanding of the role that fish farming plays for food security in developing countries. The alliance AFSPAN (Aquaculture for Food Security, Poverty Alleviation and Nutrition) will bring together development agencies, governments and universities. The EU has provided one million Euros for the

A new report, released by Oxfam, reveals that land used to power European cars with biofuels for just one year could produce enough wheat and maize to feed at least 127 million people. In addition, the EU biofuel target also effects European consumers through higher fuel prices at the pumps. Oxfam’s ‘The Hunger Grains’ report

In an attempt to deal with the crippling weed resistance associated with ‘Roundup ready’ GM crops, a US based company is attempting to introduce a new, controversial, GM corn plant. The controversy surrounds the fact that the new GM product relies on a highly toxic chemical that was once a component of the Vietnam war

The Sustainable Food Trust’s (SFT) global food and farming campaign was launched in the UK yesterday. The organisation plans to build a global network of collaborative partnerships with individuals, organisation and those playing key roles within the wider food movement, to support collaboration and disseminate research and policy throughout the world. The Trust plans to

A briefing paper, entitled ‘Women in African agriculture: farmers, mothers, innovators and educators’, was released on 17th September by London’s Imperial College, Montpellier Panel. The paper calls for urgent action to address the needs and perspectives of women in smallholder agricultural policy in sub-Saharan Africa. The Panel highlighted the fact that although women play crucial

‘Just Label It’, a US coalition calling for mandatory labelling of genetically engineered (GE) foods, today announced its endorsement for the ‘Yes on Prop 37- California Right to Know’ campaign. The ‘Proposition 37’ vote, to be held this November is a local referendum offering Californian citizens the chance to vote for the mandatory labelling of